Cape Town - The Castle Rock/Simon’s Town fire, which affected large areas across Simon’s Town and Glencairn, Scarborough among other areas, was the largest blaze affecting the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) in 2023.
The fire, which started on December 19, saw hundreds of firefighters activated over a number of days.
TMNP said an estimated 3 400 hectares of land was burnt, across private, public works and TMNP properties.
At the height of the fires, TMNP had just more than 200 firefighters on a 24-hour shift under the co-ordination of SANParks. Resources were demobilised on December 27.
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the City had approximately 300 firefighters on scene.
A day after the fires erupted, five firefighters were injured and two were transported to hospital. At the time, Carelse said the injuries included smoke inhalation, an eye injury, a twisted ankle and a leg injury.
The last fire was reported on December 25.
TMNP Manager Megan Taplin said no residential structures were lost during the fire with the exception of minor damage reported to infrastructure.
Taplin said TMNP was in the process of finalising the detailed mapping.
“This has taken longer than would normally be the case. However, it was not a ‘normal’ fire event as TMNP together with the City had multiple large fire events burning at geographically different locations, at times simultaneously, making it complex to manage and allocate resources during the period leading up to and including Christmas.
“This was a massive team effort between the agencies, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue, SANParks and Provincial Disaster Management, who co-ordinated the response to the various fires.
“Invaluable assistance was provided by Volunteer Wildfire Services, Working on Fire, Nature Conservation Corporation, Enviro Wildfire Services, EVS and numerous other volunteer groups and citizens of Cape Town who made generous donations during firefighting operations.”
The Swartkop Berg trail remains closed until such time as it can be assessed and repairs made to water bars, signage etc, Taplin said.
“TMNP management is still assessing the extent of the fire and will establish monitoring programmes post fire to assess the level of intervention needed. It is a given that the decades of invasive seeds stored in the soil will germinate together with the regeneration of the fynbos species.
“This is one of the elements TMNP management will monitor and allocate resources and budget to.”